Let me tell you a story - a story of hope.
There were palm fronds growing by the path and I cut them loose from the tree
when I was done with them I discarded them in the waste ground behind the garden wall
there they lay
was I in the crowd
oh yes I am in the crowd
I’m always in the crowd
we are right he is the Messiah he is wonderful counselor Almighty God everlasting father prince of peace and he is coming
as promised
he arrives on an unridden colt and we cheer
hosanna save us that’s what hosanna means save us save us anointed one expected one
the palm fronds lay behind the wall drying until the next spring when someone asked for dried palm fronds to reduce to Ash
in Jerusalem six years ago early in the morning I felt I should get up and go and I walked through the town from the Gloria hotel near the Jaffa gate to the church
the church that has two names
one is the church of the holy sepulcher
there was almost no one there
a priest gathered a small group of people at the bottom of a stair and I asked him
I don’t know what I’m looking at what should I look at and he said
well you want to go up the stairs that’s Calvary
then you want to go over to that little building inside the building that is the chapel with the tomb
later that day I went into the chapel and lay my forehead on the cool marble slab in the inner room
my eyes closed
it was dark so dark
I felt nothing
I lost track of time
then I heard a gasp of breath and I opened my eyes leaned away got up and went out
the attendant said yes Fr.
and I walked out into the larger church which has another name the church of the Resurrection
but not yet not today
we are still at the tomb with our eyes closed waiting for the light to dawn
between then and now we gather at a table and he is there and he says to us as he breaks the bread and passes it around
this is my body broken for you
the true Paschal Lamb offers himself for us
at the end of the meal he takes the cup blesses it giving thanks to God and gives it to us and says
this is my blood the blood of the new covenant remember this
remember this whenever you drink it
and so we remember also the offering Abraham made of his own son
And God reckoned that faith of Abraham unto him for righteousness
it wasn’t killing his son that saved him it was his faith
and so even today as we without bread or wine in our hands offer our faith as our gift to God
and it is through that faith that he redeems us
it is through his act in which we have faith that he has made us whole
* * *
Racism. White supremacy. Sexism. Gun violence.
Madness.
Human nature. Human condition.
Much more for Jesus to bear
than a donkey could carry
more than David’s heir
alone could bear
could restore or
return to normal.
And so we are not at the happy ending
yet.
No headless chocolate bunny, or flowers,
or colored eggs.
Until we come to know
that he came to bear the whole weight of our condition.
We are not marketing a narrative of fear - we tell a story of hope.
God showed hospitality in creating the world.
God shows compassion to the world he created.
He now shares in our condition.
For, though he was in the form of God, he
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Phil 2.6-8
Where is there hope?
There is hope not because he avoided the human condition but because he took it on. When Jesus healed people he made them whole -
they became fully alive, they shined! And when he raised them from the dead it was not the resuscitation of a corpse: it was resurrection! May we listen with charity and patience. May we comfort where comfort is needed and celebrate where celebration is called for. May we meet challenges with courage compassion competence and commitment. And may we who follow him follow him,
shouldering our own crosses,
as he carries all to the cross and beyond.
And may we in the fullness of life radiate the love of God.
Amen.
Palm Sunday
28 March 2021
Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/HolyWeek/BPalmSun_RCL.html
Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
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